[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


     AN EXAMINATION OF TSA'S FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET AND PRIORITIES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                  TRANSPORTATION AND MARITIME SECURITY

                                 OF THE

                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION
                               __________

                             JUNE 22, 2023
                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-20
                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
                                     

                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                    
        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
54-203   PDF               WASHINGTON : 2023   

                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

                 Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas             Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, 
Clay Higgins, Louisiana                  Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi           Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Dan Bishop, North Carolina           Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida           Eric Swalwell, California
August Pfluger, Texas                J. Luis Correa, California
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York        Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia      Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Tony Gonzales, Texas                 Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Nick LaLota, New York                Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Mike Ezell, Mississippi              Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Anthony D'Esposito, New York         Robert Garcia, California
Laurel M. Lee, Florida               Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Morgan Luttrell, Texas               Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Dale W. Strong, Alabama              Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma              Dina Titus, Nevada
Elijah Crane, Arizona
                      Stephen Siao, Staff Director
                  Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
                       Natalie Nixon, Chief Clerk
                     Sean Jones, Deputy Chief Clerk
                                 ------                                

          SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND MARITIME SECURITY

                  Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida, Chairman
Clay Higgins, Louisiana              Shri Thanedar, Michigan, Ranking 
Nick LaLota, New York                    Member
Laurel M. Lee, Florida               Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee (ex     Robert Garcia, California
    officio)                         Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi 
                                         (ex officio)
                  Vacancy, Subcommittee Staff Director
           Alex Marston, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director
                  Halle Sarkisian, Subcommittee Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               Statements

The Honorable Carlos A. Gimenez, a Representative in Congress 
  From the State of Florida, and Chairman, Subcommittee on 
  Transportation and Maritime Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     1
  Prepared Statement.............................................     2
The Honorable Shri Thanedar, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Michigan, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on 
  Transportation and Maritime Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     5
  Prepared Statement.............................................     6
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress 
  From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on 
  Homeland Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     3
  Prepared Statement.............................................     4

                                Witness

Hon. David Pekoske, Administrator, Transportation Security 
  Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     7
  Prepared Statement.............................................     9

 
     AN EXAMINATION OF TSA'S FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET AND PRIORITIES

                              ----------                              


                        Thursday, June 22, 2023

             U.S. House of Representatives,
                    Committee on Homeland Security,
                        Subcommittee on Transportation and 
                                         Maritime Security,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:21 p.m., in 
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Carlos A. Gimenez 
(Chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
    Present: Representatives Gimenez, Higgins, LaLota, Lee, 
Thanedar, Garcia, and Thompson (ex officio).
    Mr. Gimenez. Good afternoon. The Committee on Homeland 
Security, Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security 
will come to order.
    Without objection, the Chair may declare the subcommittee 
in recess at any point.
    The purpose of this hearing is to examine the priorities of 
TSA and the agency's budget request for fiscal year 2024.
    I would like to thank our distinguished witness, 
Administrator David Pekoske, for joining us today.
    I now recognize myself for an opening statement.
    Welcome, Administrator Pekoske. Today, we will discuss the 
Transportation Security Administration's fiscal year 2024 
budget request. But first, I would like to congratulate you on 
your recent confirmation for a second 5-year term to lead the 
TSA. This committee is deeply appreciative of your willingness 
to continue to serve. Your testimony today comes at a time 
where our country and the traveling public rely on the 
capabilities of the TSA now more than ever.
    The TSA was formed nearly two decades ago with--tasked with 
extensive responsibilities, including protecting our Nation's 
aviation and transportation systems. As you know, the 
challenges and threats facing our Nation's aviation and 
transportation systems are ever-changing and complex. During 
your term as--first term as TSA administrator, you worked 
diligently to realign TSA's strategic priorities and reorganize 
the agency to reflect the evolving mission--mission on needs.
    The more than 60,000 men and women of today's TSA play a 
crucial role in keeping our country safe and secure. It is the 
responsibility of Congress to ensure that TSA and its work 
force have the necessary resources to address various 
challenges and threats and keep Americans safe.
    With that said, TSA's 2024 budget request includes $1.1 
billion for pay increases for TSA work force. While I am 
supportive of the TSA work force, many Members of our committee 
would prefer to take a targeted approach with potential pay 
increases. A targeted approach would ensure that only front-
line TSA personnel are getting a pay increase. Instead, TSA is 
proposing a pay increase across the board, including for 
already highly-paid senior personnel at TSA headquarters.
    Last month, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Homeland Security held a markup for fiscal year 2024 Homeland 
Security bill. Included in that bill is a targeted pay increase 
for Transportation Security Officers and a total of $5.9 
billion for the front-line screening work force. This is an 
$856 million increase above fiscal year 2023 to fund pay 
increases for TSO--TSOs, which I support. I want to emphasize 
that funding constraints, including TSA's top-line pay equity 
requests, have led to continued delays in investing in new, 
more effective security technology, given the current fiscally-
constrained environment.
    TSA's fiscal 2024 budget request diverts funding from key 
areas, such as much-needed investments in security technology. 
Investments in security technology such as computer tomography 
and Credential Authentication Technology, CAT, must remain a 
top priority as a cost-effective, proven solution to decrease 
risk to the transportation system. We must also ensure that TSA 
is being proactive in shortening the time it takes to develop 
and pilot new technologies and deploying them in the field.
    TSA's fiscal 2024 budget request includes only $70 million 
to procure additional CT systems. This is significantly less 
than the amount that was appropriated in fiscal year 2023. 
Under TSA's fiscal 2024 request, and based on past, present, 
and current projected funding, TSA will not meet full 
operational capability for CT machines until fiscal year 2042. 
It goes without saying that's a little bit slow. Fortunately, 
the House Appropriation's fiscal 2024 Homeland Security bill 
includes $105.4 million for CT systems, which makes up to--up 
to $30 million shortfall from TSA's budget request.
    Thank you once again for being here, Administrator Pekoske. 
I look forward to your testimony and answers.
    [The statement of Chairman Gimenez follows:]
                Statement of Chairman Carlos A. Gimenez
    Welcome, Administrator Pekoske. Today, we will discuss the 
Transportation Security Administration's fiscal year 2024 budget 
request.
    But first, I would like to congratulate you on your recent 
confirmation for a second 5-year term to lead the TSA. This committee 
is deeply appreciative of your willingness to continue to serve.
    Your testimony today comes at a time when our country and the 
traveling public rely on the capabilities of the TSA now more than 
ever.
    The TSA was formed nearly two decades ago and tasked with extensive 
responsibilities, including protecting our Nation's aviation and 
transportation systems.
    As you know, the challenges and threats facing our Nation's 
aviation and transportation systems are ever-changing and complex.
    During your first term as TSA administrator, you worked diligently 
to realign TSA's strategic priorities and reorganize the agency to 
reflect evolving mission needs.
    The more than 60,000 men and women of TSA play a crucial role in 
keeping our country safe and secure. It is the responsibility of 
Congress to ensure that TSA and its workforce have the necessary 
resources to address various challenges and threats and keep Americans 
safe.
    With that said, TSA's 2024 budget request includes $1.1 billion 
dollars for pay increases for the TSA workforce. While I am supportive 
of the TSA workforce, many Members of our committee would prefer to 
take a targeted approach with potential pay increases.
    A targeted approach would ensure that only front-line TSA personnel 
are getting a pay increase. Instead, TSA is proposing a pay increase 
across the board, including for already highly-paid senior personnel at 
TSA headquarters.
    Last month, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland 
Security held a mark-up for the fiscal year 2024 Homeland Security 
bill. Included in that bill is a targeted pay increase for 
Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and a total $5.9 billion for 
the front-line screening workforce. This is an $856 million increase 
above fiscal year 2023 to fund pay increases for TSOs, which I support.
    I want to emphasize that funding constraints, including TSA's 
topline pay equity request, have led to continued delays in investing 
in new, more effective security technology given the current fiscally-
constrained environment.
    TSA's fiscal year 2024 budget request diverts funding from key 
areas such as much-needed investments in security technology.
    Investment in security technology such as Computed Tomography (CT) 
and Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) must remain a top 
priority as a cost-effective, proven solution to decrease risk to the 
transportation system.
    We must also ensure that TSA is being proactive and shortening the 
time it takes to develop and pilot new technologies and deploying them 
to the field.
    TSA's fiscal year 2024 budget request includes only $70 million to 
procure additional CT systems. This is significantly less than the 
amount that was appropriated in fiscal year 2023.
    Under TSA's fiscal year budget 2024 request, and based on past, 
present, and current projected funding, TSA will not meet full 
operational capability for CT machines until fiscal year 2042. It goes 
without saying, this is simply too slow.
    Fortunately, the House Appropriations fiscal year 2024 Homeland 
Security bill includes $105.4 million for CT systems, which makes up 
the $30 million shortfall from TSA's budget request.
    Thank you once again for being here, Administrator Pekoske. I look 
forward to your testimony and answers.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member, the gentleman from Michigan, 
Mr. Thanedar, for his opening statement.

    Mr. Gimenez. I will now recognize the Ranking Member of our 
committee, Mr. Thompson, from Mississippi.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    Good afternoon, Mr. Administrator. Good seeing you. Hope 
all is well.
    Thank you, Chairman Gimenez, for holding this hearing.
    To Administrator Pekoske, as I said, thank you for joining 
us today.
    I'm thankful for the steps that you've taken to expand 
workplace rights and critical pay increases for TSA workers 
who've long been left behind. Those steps were made possible by 
the historic funding provided by Democrats in last year's 
omnibus spending bill.
    With 30 percent pay increases set to hit paychecks next 
month, TSA has already seen a drastic decrease of 40 to 50 
percent attrition among TSA work force. I might add that, as I 
travel through airports, I've never seen so many smiling faces. 
The TSOs deserve it. They've done a wonderful job, in spite of 
the low pay, and I'm happy that we were able to start the 
process. But as you know, we need to finish it too.
    So higher pay will enable TSA to keep us during this busy 
summer travel, save money on training new personnel, and 
increase security by keeping TSOs with security and expertise 
within the agency. I know some of my colleagues across the 
aisle want to limit these life-changing pay increases to only 
front-line airport checkpoint screening personnel. This 
misguided attempt to protect the workers who need it most would 
actually deny much-needed equity to explosive specialists, 
canine handlers, Federal Air Marshals, cybersecurity experts, 
and other work essential to TSA's mission. It would also 
disincentivize career advancement and rob TSA of experienced 
veteran leaders among its work force.
    It is absolutely vital that we work with our colleagues on 
the Appropriations Committee to finish what we started and 
fully annualize these pay increases and safeguards for 
workplace rights for all TSA workers. I support the additional 
$1.1 billion requested by President Biden to cover these 
initiatives for a full year in fiscal year 2024.
    We cannot go back on a promise to the hardworking men and 
women of TSA. Congress must consider all possible solutions to 
this funding challenge, including increasing passenger security 
fees that have remained stagnant for many years, despite 
inflation and increases in airline ticket prices.
    This is why I've introduced the Fund the TSA Act, to 
provide TSA with the resources it needs to invest in its work 
force and the next generation of screening technologies by 
enacting a modest increase to passenger fees and indexing 
future fee amounts to inflation. This legislation would also 
end the diversion of security fees, returning to TSA 
approximately one-third of fee collections that have been taken 
away to offset unrelated Government spending.
    Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to enter into the 
record a letter from Everett Kelley, president of the American 
Federation of Government Employees, in support of the Fund the 
TSA Act and full pay and labor rights for TSA workers.*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * The information was not available at the time of publication.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I'd like to thank Administrator Pekoske for his support for 
the TSA work force and for his work to safeguard American 
travelers. I look forward to hearing more about his plans for 
the coming fiscal year and for the future of the agency.
    Thank you, and I yield back.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Thompson follows:]
             Statement of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson
                             June 22, 2023
    I am thankful for the steps Administrator Pekoske has taken to 
expand workplace rights and critical pay increases for TSA's workers, 
who have long been left behind. Those steps were made possible by the 
historic funding provided by Democrats in last year's Omnibus spending 
bill. With 30 percent pay increases set to hit paychecks next month, 
TSA has already seen a dramatic decrease of 40 to 50 percent in 
attrition among the TSA workforce. Higher pay will enable TSA to keep 
up with busy summer travel, save money on training new personnel, and 
increase security by keeping TSOs with seniority and expertise within 
the agency.
    I know some of my colleagues across the aisle want to limit these 
life-changing pay increases to only front-line airport checkpoint 
screening personnel. This misguided attempt to protect the workers who 
need it most would actually deny much-needed equity to explosives 
specialists, canine handlers, Federal Air Marshals, cybersecurity 
experts, and other workers essential to TSA's mission. It would also 
disincentivize career advancement and rob TSA of experienced veteran 
leaders among its workforce.
    It is absolutely vital that we work with our colleagues on the 
Appropriations Committee to finish what we started and fully annualize 
these pay increases and safeguards for workplace rights for all TSA 
workers. I support the additional $1.1 billion requested by President 
Biden to cover these initiatives for a full year in fiscal year 2024. 
We cannot go back on our promise to the hardworking men and women of 
TSA. Congress must consider all possible solutions to this funding 
challenge, including increasing passenger security fees that have 
remained stagnant for many years, despite inflation and increases in 
airline ticket prices.
    That is why I have introduced the Fund the TSA Act to provide TSA 
with the resources it needs to invest in its workforce and the next 
generation of screening technologies by enacting a modest increase to 
passenger fees and indexing future fee amounts to inflation. This 
legislation would also end the diversion of security fees, returning to 
TSA approximately one-third of fee collections that have been taken 
away to offset unrelated Government spending.
    I would like to thank Administrator Pekoske for his support for the 
TSA workforce and for his work to safeguard American travelers. I look 
forward to hearing more about his plans for the coming fiscal year and 
for the future of the agency.

    Mr. Gimenez. Without objection.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, the 
gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Thanedar, for his opening 
statements.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Chairman Gimenez, for calling 
today's hearing.
    Thank you to Administrator Pekoske for joining us.
    We stand at a critical junction for the Transportation 
Security Administration as we in Congress consider whether to 
invest the resources necessary to ensure the continued security 
of our transportation system.
    Last December, Democrats in Congress provided significant 
resources in the omnibus funding bill to increase pay and 
collective bargaining rights for TSA workers, finally putting 
them on equal footing with other Federal employees. Increased 
pay will begin to hit TSA employees' paycheck next month, and 
TSA's already seeing major positive impacts.
    Drastically, more people are applying to TSA positions. 
Trends indicate that TSA's attrition rates, which have been 
unsustainably high, may drop as much as 50 percent under the 
new pay structure. Lower attrition will not only allow the 
agency to save millions on hiring and training employees who 
leave months later, but will also improve security as TSA 
develops a highly-skilled, experienced work force.
    Going forward, we must provide TSA with the funding to 
continue these critical work force initiatives for a full year 
in 2024. Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee marked 
up the bill put forward by the Republican majority to fund the 
Department of Homeland Security for 2024. I was glad to see 
that Republicans are now following Democrats' lead to provide 
pay increases for Transportation Security Officers, or TSOs.
    Unfortunately, the bill prohibits increased pay for any TSA 
employee who is not a TSO. This group of employees is critical 
to TSA's security mission and includes Federal Air Marshals, 
canine handlers, bomb technicians, cybersecurity experts, and 
intelligence analysts.
    The bill also defunds Visible Intermodal Prevention and 
Response teams which are essential to securing mass transit and 
other transportation modes, and it defunds basic collective 
bargaining rights for TSA employees. Simply put, this 
Republican bill would seriously undermine TSA's security 
mission.
    Thankfully, an alternative approach exists. Last month, 
Ranking Member Thompson introduced the Fund the TSA Act, which 
would end the diversion of passenger security fees and raise 
fees by $2 per trip to provide TSA with the resources it 
desperately needs. This bill would allow TSA to invest in its 
work force, process increasing number of travelers, purchase 
additional computer tomography machines for screening carry-on 
baggages, and fund critical airport law enforcement and canine 
programs.
    I'm a proud cosponsor of this bill, and I encourage my 
Republican colleagues to give it serious consideration as a 
solution to TSA's funding challenges.
    The fact is we have been underfunding TSA for two decades. 
It is time that we rightsize TSA's budget, support its work 
force, and set the agency up to address rising passenger 
volumes over the coming years.
    Mr. Administrator, I look forward to hearing your thoughts 
and how Congress can support the agency's needs.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Thanedar follows:]
               Statement of Ranking Member Shri Thanedar
                             June 22, 2023
    We stand at a critical junction for the Transportation Security 
Administration as we in Congress consider whether to invest the 
resources necessary to ensure the continued security of our 
transportation systems.
    Last December, Democrats in Congress provided significant resources 
in the Omnibus funding bill to increase pay and collective bargaining 
rights for TSA workers, finally putting them on equal footing with 
other Federal employees. Increased pay will begin to hit TSA employees' 
paychecks next month, and TSA is already seeing major, positive 
impacts.
    Drastically more people are applying to TSA positions, and trends 
indicate that TSA's attrition rates--which have been unsustainably 
high--may drop as much as 50 percent under the new pay structure. Lower 
attrition will not only allow the agency to save millions on hiring and 
training employees who leave months later, but will also improve 
security as TSA develops a highly-skilled, experienced workforce. Going 
forward, we must provide TSA with the funding to continue these 
critical workforce initiatives for a full year in 2024.
    Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the bill 
put forward by the Republican Majority to fund the Department of 
Homeland Security for 2024. I was glad to see that Republicans are now 
following Democrats' lead to provide pay increases for Transportation 
Security Officers, or TSOs. Unfortunately, the bill prohibits increased 
pay for any TSA employee who is not a TSO. This group of employees is 
critical to TSA's security mission and includes Federal Air Marshals, 
canine handlers, bomb technicians, cybersecurity experts, and 
intelligence analysts.
    The bill also defunds Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response 
teams, which are essential to securing mass transit and other 
transportation modes, and it defunds basic collective bargaining rights 
for TSA employees. Simply put, this Republican bill would seriously 
undermine TSA's security mission.
    Thankfully, an alternative approach exists.
    Last month, Ranking Member Thompson introduced the ``Fund the TSA 
Act,'' which would end the diversion of passenger security fees and 
raise fees by $2 per trip to provide TSA with the resources it 
desperately needs. This bill would allow TSA to invest in its 
workforce, process increasing numbers of travelers, purchase additional 
Computed Tomography machines for screening carry-on baggage, and fund 
critical airport law enforcement and canine programs. I am a proud 
cosponsor of this bill, and I encourage my Republican colleagues to 
give it serious consideration as a solution to TSA's funding 
challenges.
    The fact is, we have been underfunding TSA for two decades. It is 
time that we right-size TSA's budget, support its workforce, and set 
the agency up to address rising passenger volumes over the coming 
years. Mr. Administrator, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on 
how Congress can support the agency's needs.

    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Ranking Member Thanedar.
    Other Members of the committee are reminded that opening 
statements may be submitted for the record.
    Again, I am pleased to have a distinguished witness before 
us today on this critical topic.
    I ask that our witness please rise and raise his right 
hand.
    [Witness sworn.]
    Thank you. Please be seated.
    Let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the 
affirmative.
    I would now like to formally introduce our witness.
    Mr. David Pekoske is currently serving his second term as 
the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security 
Administration. In this capacity, he leads a work force of over 
60,000 employees, and is responsible for security operations at 
nearly 440 airports throughout the United States.
    Under his leadership, TSA has improved transportation 
security through close partnerships and alliances, a culture of 
innovation, and the development of a dedicated work force. 
Prior to his tenure at TSA, he served as the 26th Vice 
Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, culminating a Coast Guard 
career that included extensive operational and command 
experience.
    I thank the administrator for being here today. I now 
recognize Administrator Pekoske for 5 minutes to summarize his 
opening statement.

   STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DAVID PEKOSKE, ADMINISTRATOR, 
  TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 
                       HOMELAND SECURITY

    Mr. Pekoske. Thank you.
    Good afternoon, Chairman Gimenez, Ranking Member Thompson, 
Ranking Member Thanedar, distinguished Members of the 
subcommittee. I am grateful for the opportunity to testify on 
the President's fiscal year 2024 budget request for TSA. I look 
forward to discussing how the budget request supports our 
mission of securing the Nation's transportation system, while 
ensuring the freedom of movement of people and cargo.
    Our operations are conducted by an incredible team of TSA 
employees, both public facing and behind the scenes, who work 
tirelessly to keep us safe, as well as the enormous security 
contributions of the owners and operators of transportation 
infrastructure.
    So far in fiscal year 2023, 550 million travelers have been 
screened at our checkpoints at over 430 airports across the 
country. Our highest passenger screening day since March 2020 
was just 6 days ago, last Friday, when we screened 
approximately 2.79 million passengers. We project that we'll 
screen over a quarter of a billion passengers and crew during 
the busy summer travel season.
    With the growth in air travel, we will need the additional 
staff requested in the fiscal year 2024 budget to continue to 
meet our passenger throughput standards. Thanks to the 
extraordinary effort of our airport teams, we meet those 
standards over 95 percent of the time Nation-wide.
    Of note, TSA PreCheck enrollments just passed the 16 
million-member mark, with some days seeing almost 20,000 new 
TSA PreCheck enrollments.
    This year, TSA is on pace to provide assistance to over 
60,000 passengers who may need additional help in our screening 
process. This program, called TSA Cares, is certainly a benefit 
for those asking for assistance, and provides additional 
efficiency for all travelers in the queue.
    I am very grateful for the funding we received in last 
December's fiscal 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act that places 
TSA employees on the same pay scale as most other Federal 
Government employees. This is essential to our long-term 
success. Annualizing the funding to support this important 
action is my No. 1 budget priority for fiscal year 2024.
    We are already seeing significant dividends from the 2023 
budget. First off, as many of you have already mentioned, 
overall attrition rates are down, and they're way down. There's 
already been a 53 percent increase in applications to TSA 
positions so far this calendar year.
    I appreciate that in yesterday's markup of our fiscal year 
2024 appropriation the House Appropriations Committee provided 
partial funding to annualize TSA's pay plan for our 
Transportation Security Officers. However, I am very concerned 
that the bill does not continue the pay for all TSA employees 
into the next year.
    TSA is an operating agency, and all members contribute to 
our mission success. Here are some examples of employees whose 
pay would not be funded and, therefore, their pay reduced in 
the House bill. You'll see most have a direct contribution to 
our mission, and the remainder are critical to supporting our 
front line.
    Federal Air Marshals, who as Federal law enforcement 
officers, provide in-flight security, augment law enforcement 
presence in airports and surface transportation systems; canine 
handlers whose explosive detection and mobile screening 
capabilities are a key component of TSA's layered risk-based 
approach to securing the aviation sector. They are essential to 
meeting wait-time standards at our major airports.
    Explosives experts are former members of a police bomb 
squad or military EOD teams that provide advanced IED training 
and awareness, as well as alarm resolution in our checkpoints. 
TSA vetting experts work 24/7 to review and vet passenger 
reservation and aviation worker data, while processing nearly 3 
million passenger records a day, and vet a credentialed 
population of nearly 30 million people.
    Coordination Center Officers at airports serve as the nerve 
center for incident management reporting and are tied in real 
time with TSA's national operation centers. Aviation regulatory 
inspectors ensure compliance with and the security of domestic 
and international aviation, while assessing security at 
international last-point-of-departure airports. Our surface and 
cyber inspectors are similarly not included.
    Headquarters operations, which consists of only 4 percent 
of our work force, a lean operation, in my opinion, provide 
critical operational policy and logistic support to the entire 
agency.
    These are examples of the many dedicated TSA security 
professionals who would be left out of the House bill were it 
to pass. TSA cannot be successful without a unified, vigilant, 
engaged, properly staffed, and fairly compensated work force.
    I appreciate the challenge of identifying resources needed 
to continue ensuring transportation security. The current 9/11 
security fees generate over $4 billion in revenue to the 
Federal Government. However, a portion of this fee revenue has 
been diverted since fiscal year 2014 to deficit reduction. It 
does not all go to aviation security, despite the fee's name. 
Last year alone, $1.6 billion of the 9/11 security fees paid by 
passengers were deposited into the Treasury, not used as an 
offset to TSA's funding needs as originally intended.
    The President submitted a legislative proposal to end this 
fee diversion last year and again this year. If enacted, it 
would provide $1.6 billion in additional offsetting collections 
to TSA's budget, more than enough to offset the additional 
costs of fair pay and to support our technology investments.
    This is an authorization and an appropriation issue. I ask 
for your support to end the fee diversion and put the funds to 
their intended purpose, as the President has requested.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. 
I look forward to your questions and to working with all of you 
over the coming years to ensure TSA has the authorities and the 
resources needed to meet our mission.
    Thank you, sir.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Pekoske follows:]
                 Prepared Statement of David P. Pekoske
                             June 22, 2023
    Good afternoon Chairman Gimenez, Ranking Member Thanedar, and 
distinguished Members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to 
testify on the President's fiscal year 2024 President's budget request, 
which includes a $10.4 billion request for the Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA). I am honored to be here and am grateful for the 
long-standing and constructive partnership TSA enjoys with this 
subcommittee and all the support you have provided over the years. I 
look forward to working with the new Members of the committee, 
including Ranking Member Thanedar, Representative LaLota, 
Representative Lee, and Representative Garcia.
    First and foremost, I would like to thank the committee and 
Congress for your continued support of our workforce most notably 
through approving the increased pay plan which was included in the 
fiscal year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act. The President's fiscal 
year 2024 budget request includes the annualization of the pay plan 
Congress approved in fiscal year 2023. This pay plan matches the 
minimum compensation levels with the General Schedule (GS) pay scale 
and makes the pay for the TSA workforce comparable to every other 
Federal employee. I want to be clear that pay initiatives must include 
all TSA employees. Oftentimes many of our TSA employees who are not 
customer-facing are overlooked. We must acknowledge and recognize their 
impact and contributions to our overall mission. Every link in the 
chain of our TSA workforce is equal and contributes directly to the 
security of our transportation systems. All are due the respect, 
treatment, and pay that they have earned. The comparable pay plan was 
not only the right thing to do by our work force, but it is already 
paying dividends in ways that will have a measurable impact on mission 
performance. Since the December 2022 announcement that Congress 
included funding for comparable pay in the 2023 Omnibus, we have 
already seen the following indicators of success:
   Attrition trends indicate that TSA may realize as much as a 
        40-50 percent reduction in attrition moving forward. When you 
        factor the estimated cost of over $12,000 to on-board new 
        staff, this will result in a significant cost savings for the 
        Government.
   TSA has gone from losing an average of 381 officers per 2-
        week pay period at the beginning of the fiscal year down to 
        losing an average of 202 officers per pay period over the last 
        5 pay periods. At almost half the losses, if this trend 
        continues, we may need to hire as many as 5,000 fewer officers 
        next year.
   At the same time that we are reducing attrition, we are 
        continuing to hire and are achieving net gains in overall 
        officer head count. The pay period ending April 22, 2023 was 
        our fifth pay period in a row in which we saw our total officer 
        head count increase, and over the past 5 pay periods we have 
        averaged a net increase of 212 officers per pay period.
    Additionally, I would also want to take this opportunity to 
acknowledge the superior efforts of the entire TSA workforce, convey 
what they have accomplished, and explain our future goals and 
objectives. So far in fiscal year 2023:
   TSA has screened 550 million travelers, an average of more 
        than 2.2 million passengers per day, with 99.2 percent of 
        passengers waiting less than 30 minutes at airport security 
        checkpoints, and 98.8 percent of TSA PreCheck passengers 
        waiting less than 10 minutes. We need to maintain our wait time 
        standards while ensuring security in light of increasing 
        passenger volumes.
   As of June 7, 2023, TSA has deployed 302 CAT-1 systems, 
        upgraded 115 CAT-1 systems to CAT-2 capability, and deployed 
        217 new CT systems, which significantly improve security 
        effectiveness and efficiency while reducing physical contact.
   TSA has begun the process of enrolling 10 new airlines as 
        well as nearly 3 million more individuals, and achieved the 
        milestone of exceeding 16 million enrolled members in the TSA 
        PreCheck Program. We are also working to on-board additional 
        enrollment vendors to expand enrollment options:
     This expansion of enrollment providers will increase the 
            network of locations where applicants may go to complete 
            their membership in TSA PreCheck.
     TSA PreCheck programs provide more efficient screening and 
            a better checkpoint experience, while also maintaining the 
            required level of security for passengers by allowing TSA 
            to allocate resources to areas of the greatest risk. TSA 
            also vets over 30 million individuals across transportation 
            worker populations on a daily basis. TSA's vetting of 
            transportation workers comprises intelligence-related 
            checks and may also include checks for lawful presence and/
            or criminal history record information.
   We've provided assistance to 42,277 passengers with 
        disabilities/medical conditions and/or required special 
        assistance via the TSA Cares program. We are on pace to provide 
        assistance to 63,416 passengers in all of fiscal year 2023, 
        which would represent a 39 percent increase over fiscal year 
        2022 (45,502). Passengers indicated autism spectrum as the 
        medical condition that they need assistance with the most in 
        fiscal year 2023 (9,424 or 22 percent of all requests). It 
        remained the top reason for special assistance for the fifth 
        consecutive fiscal year.
   Our screening workforce has prevented more than 4,500 
        firearms from being carried into the secure area of airports or 
        airplane passenger cabins, after a record-setting year in 2022. 
        This is a testament to the security proficiency of our 
        Transportation Security Officers.
   We have trained 4,120 flight crew members in Crew Member 
        Self-Defense training to address increasing trends in unruly 
        passengers, and partnered with the Federal Aviation 
        Administration to rescind TSA PreCheck eligibility for 
        passengers who are disruptive aboard flights or during security 
        screening. In especially egregious situations, TSA has taken 
        action to limit individuals from flying in the future if they 
        are assessed to pose a threat to aviation security.
   The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) covered aviation 
        security missions involving identified high-risk travelers, 
        served on Federal task forces with our law enforcement partner 
        agencies to investigate transportation terrorism and criminal 
        acts, and continued to lead TSA's Insider Threat program. FAMS 
        also provided security enhancements to all transportation 
        modes. The Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) 
        Teams completed over 4,800 missions in aviation and surface 
        transportation modes.
   We expanded the Transportation Security Officer (TSO) new 
        hire training from 2 to 3 weeks, providing additional 
        instruction on image interpretation, TSA culture, enhancing the 
        passenger experience, and improved focus and concentration. TSA 
        trained over 5,222 TSO new hires as of June 7, 2023, and this 
        month TSA officially opened TSA Academy West adjacent to Harry 
        Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.
   TSA established the first performance-based, outcome-focused 
        cybersecurity-related Security Directives and Security Program 
        Amendments that require mandatory incident reporting and the 
        adoption of mitigation measures to the most critical owners and 
        operators of transportation infrastructure in pipelines, rail, 
        and aviation. TSA is committed to enhancing and sustaining 
        industry's resilience to cybersecurity attacks. TSA is working 
        on a rule making that will permanently codify critical 
        cybersecurity requirements for pipeline and rail modes.
   TSA published Information Circulars to Transportation 
        Systems Sector stakeholders with recommended actions to reduce 
        vulnerabilities associated with cybersecurity-related threats.
   We also published the Innovation Doctrine--the first of its 
        kind in Government, which lays out agreed-upon current best 
        practices and establishes mechanisms like Local Innovation for 
        TSA (LIFT) Cells across the country to foster a culture of 
        innovation, provide resources and pathways to solve local-level 
        problems, and expand the innovation ecosystem around 
        transportation security. It also creates an Innovation 
        Pipeline, a disciplined, repeatable, and scalable process for 
        innovation across TSA to out-innovate those that threaten the 
        traveling public, and leverages the TSA Innovation Task Force's 
        expertise in the evaluation and demonstration of promising 
        technologies.
   We continued several programs and initiatives to recruit and 
        retain TSOs, including:
     A performance-based rewards program called the Model 
            Officer Recognition that provided 19,478 monetary awards or 
            pay increases to top-performing TSOs in fiscal year 2022;
     Authorized TSO retention incentives at 144 airports, 
            benefiting more than 10,000 employees Nation-wide. Although 
            these are still needed in certain locations moving forward, 
            the pay equity funded by the fiscal year 2023 enactment 
            will dramatically reduce the need for these incentives.
   TSA and our partners expanded digital identity technologies 
        that improve security and enhance the customer experience, 
        including testing TSA PreCheck touchless identity solutions, 
        collaborating with Apple and other private-sector partners to 
        incorporate mobile driver's licenses (mDL) into security 
        checkpoint operations, and publishing an Identity Management 
        Roadmap which lays out a comprehensive end-to-end strategy for 
        identity verification at TSA.
   In coordination with DHS Science &Technology, TSA 
        established an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Test Bed Program 
        at Los Angeles International Airport--in addition to the 
        previously-established one at Miami International Airport--to 
        test and evaluate detection, tracking, and identification 
        technology for UAS that enter restricted air space. TSA 
        continues to collect data on performance of these various 
        technologies to share with industry and Government partners.
    TSA's vision is to remain agile, embodied by a professional 
workforce that engages its partners and the American people to address 
current and future challenges and threats to the homeland. To that end, 
within the first year of my term as administrator, I issued the ``TSA 
Strategy'' and established three strategic priorities to guide the 
agency's workforce through its 25th anniversary: (1) Improve Security 
and Safeguard the Nation's Transportation System; (2) Accelerate 
Action; and (3) Commit to Our People. I have twice published 
Administrator's Intent documents delineating and updating the short- 
and medium-term goals and objectives to achieve those strategic 
priorities. At the end of this month, I expect to publish the third 
iteration of the Administrator's Intent, which will focus on the 20 
most critical cross-cutting issues that require collaboration across 
the entire agency with senior executive accountability. We have been in 
close consultation with your staff and our stakeholders regarding the 
issues that should be included in this document. The Administrator's 
Intent 3.0 is aligned with the Department of Homeland Security's 
priorities as well as national strategies and directives including the 
National Security Strategy, the National Cybersecurity Strategy, and 
the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and 
Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government.
    We have also strengthened our partnerships across the spectrum--
from private industry, to foreign partners and international 
organizations, advisory committees, academia, State and local 
governments, and our Federal partners--in order to increase 
collaboration, security, information sharing, and maximizing the 
customer experience in the new travel environment while minimizing 
negative impacts on travelers and commerce.
    Securing and safeguarding the Nation's transportation system 
requires innovative solutions to address cybersecurity threats and 
risks associated with the continued integration of advanced electronic 
and networked systems. The fiscal year 2024 President's budget includes 
an increase of $10.4 million for cybersecurity staffing, as well as the 
development and implementation of enhanced cybersecurity-related 
measures to improve cyber resiliency across the U.S. Transportation 
Systems Sector. Across the transportation sector, TSA continues to help 
partners build cyber resilience and improve incident response, focusing 
on the pipeline, rail, and aviation sub-sectors. With those 
stakeholders, TSA hosts a variety of planning meetings, intelligence 
briefings, and tabletop exercises to ensure partners are aware and 
prepared to respond to emerging issues. I have personally visited 
pipelines and other critical infrastructure operators to discuss the 
evolving cybersecurity threat, and to understand the challenges and 
successes of implementing the current security directives and program 
amendments.
    This year, as required by Congress, TSA will deliver for the first 
time an unconstrained Capital Investment Plan that describes an ideal 
future state in which TSA is able to mitigate more risk to the 
transportation sector with additional resources. It is imperative that 
TSA continues to invest in, acquire, and field new technologies to 
strengthen transportation security.
    The transportation sector will remain a top target for malicious 
actors including international and domestic terrorists due to the 
prevalence of soft targets within the sector, the public accessibility 
of many transportation modes, and the importance of transportation 
infrastructure to the Nation. The agency carefully monitors this 
evolving threat environment and the need to strategically manage risks. 
Risk-based decision making is inherent to the TSA mission of protecting 
the Nation's transportation systems to ensure the freedom of movement 
for people and commerce. The challenges and risks TSA encounters will 
foreseeably become more complex, and the agency needs to position 
itself to be both more strategic in responding to risks and in 
developing solutions. A critical dependency in risk mitigation is 
sufficient funding that would allow TSA to continue to evolve 
transportation security in high-risk areas.
    In conjunction with the fiscal year 2024 President's budget, the 
administration offers two proposals to increase availability of funding 
to resource TSA's strategic priorities and help TSA address emerging 
threats. First, it includes a legislative proposal to end the diversion 
of passenger fee collections for deficit reduction and make $1.6 
billion of the fees available for their intended purpose of offsetting 
TSA's Operations and Support appropriation for aviation security. 
Second, the budget includes a legislative proposal to transition access 
control at exit lanes to airport authorities and commercial airports 
under Federal regulatory authorities, which will result in a projected 
savings of $111.0 million. If approved, TSA will work with the 
remaining airports that do not currently provide their own exit lane 
security to integrate exit lane security into their perimeter security 
plans and assess those plans regularly. The proposal will enable TSA to 
better focus its resources on screening functions and risk-based 
security measures.
    TSA's level of success is influenced by the help of Congress as 
well as our professional, vigilant, and engaged workforce. That is why 
``Commit to Our People'' is one of our three strategic priorities. The 
initial funding Congress provided in fiscal year 2023 to TSA allows for 
that continued commitment. The fiscal year 2024 President's budget 
includes $1.4 billion to fully support the TSA workforce pay 
initiatives started in fiscal year 2023.
    The strategic priority of ``Commit to Our People'' also entails 
ensuring that we provide our workforce with the necessary advanced 
technology to be successful. Today's evolving threats require a dynamic 
and responsive TSA. Access to greater technology enables our passenger 
screening workforce to assess potential threats quickly and efficiently 
and also supports a more seamless experience for the traveler. To that 
end, the fiscal year 2024 President's budget includes $70.4 million to 
procure additional systems within the Checkpoint Property Screening 
System (CPSS) (i.e. Computed Tomography (CT)), and $11.0 million for 
Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) programs. These systems will 
address capability gaps, and detect new and evolving threats to civil 
aviation in current property screening technology reliably and 
efficiently, while also improving the customer experience. It is 
imperative that we equip our front-line workforce with the necessary 
tools to combat persistent threats. TSA needs a total of 3,585 CAT and 
2,263 CT machines to reach full operational capability (FOC). 
Currently, CPSS procurements are an estimated 38 percent of FOC, which 
puts deployments at approximately 30 percent for CPSS and 57 percent 
for CAT. Based on past, present, and current projected funding, TSA 
will meet FOC for CAT machines and CPSS in fiscal year 2049 and fiscal 
year 2042, respectively. Full and dedicated funding for CPSS and CAT is 
imperative to our Nation's security.
    Furthermore, there are a number of investments in Operation and 
Support that require sustained funding to ensure the transportation 
sector stays secure. Some of these investments include:
   $251.0 million to provide the TSA workforce a 5.2 percent 
        pay raise.
   $39.0 million for Transportation Security Equipment 
        Maintenance to fund anticipated maintenance costs of TSA's 
        checkpoint and checked baggage screening technologies based on 
        current contractual requirements.
   $19.0 million and 24 positions for the implementation and 
        expansion of the REAL ID Program.
   $11.3 million for maintenance, technical support, and 
        engineering contracts for Credential Authentication Technology.
   $10.0 million to properly support the National Deployment 
        Office Travel increases, which will further support the 
        deployment of officers to airports in need of additional 
        staffing.
   $4.5 million and 45 positions to expand and enhance 
        dedicated pipeline security assessment teams to conduct 
        inspections and assessments on the Surface Transportation 
        System.
   $3.8 million to enhance TSA's Insider Threat Program.
   $2.7 million and 6 positions to support Executive Order 
        14058 to enhance Customer Experience Strategic initiatives.
    As you know, TSA was established by the Aviation and Transportation 
Security Act in the wake of the September 11 attacks and was given the 
urgent task of protecting our Nation's transportation systems. Since 
that day, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to provide the 
highest level of security across all modes of transportation and work 
with our partners to stay ahead of evolving threats. In the years since 
9/11, and specifically over the past fiscal year, TSA has not only had 
to address ever-present physical threats to aviation, but also dynamic 
and emerging cybersecurity threats to our Nation's aviation, rail, as 
well as hazardous liquid and natural gas pipeline infrastructure. TSA 
works closely with the transportation industry to provide agile and 
responsive security across all modes of transportation through 
passenger and cargo screening, vetting and credentialing personnel in 
critical transportation sectors, law enforcement, regulatory 
compliance, and international cooperation.
    Today, within the aviation network, TSA is responsible for the 
security of more than 430 Federalized airports, with screening services 
forecasted this summer for more than 22,000 domestic flights (at pre-
pandemic levels) and nearly 2,300 outbound international flights per 
day. With travel volume rebounding, TSA routinely screens more than 2.2 
million passengers, 5 million carry-on bags and 1.4 million pieces of 
checked baggage daily for explosives and other dangerous items, and in 
many locations across the Nation. TSA expects passenger volume to 
eventually exceed our pre-pandemic fiscal year 2019 levels, which 
averaged up to 2.3 million per day. The fiscal year 2024 President's 
budget includes $197.1 million to enable TSA to continue to recruit and 
retain a workforce able to meet increasing demands of passenger travel 
volume and maintaining security effectiveness. In addition to these 
core security functions, we also ensure regulatory compliance in 
aviation through the work of more than 1,285 aviation, cargo, and 
surface transportation security inspectors.
    In the surface realm, TSA works closely with transportation system 
owners and operators to protect the critical surface transportation 
systems that connect cities, manufacturers, and retailers and power our 
economy through more than 4 million miles of roadways; nearly 140,000 
miles of railroad track; more than 470 tunnels; and over 3.3 million 
miles of pipeline. TSA's security inspectors conduct approximately 
8,000 surface inspections annually in pursuing a risk-based approach 
for securing a large and complex network of transportation systems and 
critical infrastructure.
    Since TSA's creation, the modes and methods of terrorist attacks 
have become more decentralized and opportunistic, and aviation and 
other transport hubs remain high-value targets. Threats to aviation and 
surface transportation are persistent and constantly-evolving. To meet 
these challenges, we must continue to be responsive, innovate, rapidly 
deploy new solutions, and maximize the impact of our resources.
    The fiscal year 2024 President's budget aligns with TSA's strategy 
to improve security and safeguard the Nation's transportation system, 
accelerate action, and reinforce TSA's commitment to advancing its 
strategy. Thanks to Congress' support for TSA through the fiscal year 
2023 enactment, the fiscal year 2024 President's budget honors 
commitments to our workforce by providing appropriate compensation and 
other benefits while addressing capability gaps to ensure that the 
Nation's transportation security remains the safest in the world.
    Securing our Nation's transportation system is a complex task that 
requires robust partnerships and a well-trained, dedicated workforce. 
Funding in the fiscal year 2024 President's budget will have a positive 
impact on all TSA employees--from Transportation Security Officers, 
Federal Air Marshals, inspectors, canine handlers, explosive 
specialists, intelligence and vetting analysts, and management to 
administrative and professional employees--as well as on transportation 
security and the passenger experience. To achieve the priorities 
reflected within the fiscal year 2024 President's budget, we will 
continue to engage with industry and stakeholders, invest resources in 
our employees and technology, and encourage the public to be part of 
the solution. Finally, through constructive oversight and dialog, we 
seek to continue to partner with Congress as we work to secure all 
modes of transportation for the public.
    Chairman Gimenez, Ranking Member Thanedar, and Members of the 
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you 
today. I strongly believe that the TSA priorities outlined in the 
fiscal year 2024 President's budget are not only necessary but timely 
and vital to our economy. As always, we will be very responsive to 
addressing any questions that you might have throughout this budget 
process and I look forward to this discussion and your questions. Thank 
you.

    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Administrator.
    Members will be recognized by order of seniority for their 
5 minutes of questioning.
    I now recognize myself for 5 minutes of questioning.
    Administrator, you said that, if I heard you right, that 
some people have their pay reduced?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. We start to pay--the fiscal year 
2023 omnibus appropriation authorized pay for every single TSA 
employee. All we're asking for and all of the Congress provided 
was pay at the same pay scale as every other Federal employee 
just about. This pay begins on the 2nd of July. People will see 
it in their direct deposit accounts on the 24th of July. So 
that--that pay is already rolling and moving out.
    We provided letters to every single employee in the agency 
in April that showed their current pay and their pay under the 
amounts appropriated by the Congress in fiscal year 2023. We 
did that because we wanted them to be aware of what the exact 
calculation is. We also wanted to make sure that, if there were 
any mistakes or any misunderstandings, we corrected them back 
in April rather than in July.
    So the work force has been aware since the bill passed in 
December, and certainly, on a personal basis, the personal 
impact to them by individual letter from us and then with their 
direct deposits beginning in--you know, toward the end of July.
    Mr. Gimenez. Are you saying that in fiscal year 2024, some 
people will get their pay reduced?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. I would add to that that, you know--
--
    Mr. Gimenez. I mean, actually reduced, not in comparison to 
somebody else. It will be reduced.
    Mr. Pekoske. It will be reduced, yes, sir. It will be 
reduced to what it is today. So we----
    Mr. Gimenez. They'll get--so they'll get a pay increase for 
how long?
    Mr. Pekoske. Three months.
    Mr. Gimenez. Three months. Then it will go back----
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez [continuing]. Down.
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez. Fair enough. I'd like to get some--I'd like to 
get that and see the graph of what that impact would be, 
please.
    Mr. Pekoske. Sure.
    Mr. Gimenez. I don't think we were aware of that.
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. All right. Moving on. Your CT scan--your CT 
machines, would the increase in funding that was of $30 
million, and if we assume that that's going to be continuing, 
you had--originally you had a--a term--a completion date of 
2042.
    With $30 million more per year, et cetera, when is that 
completion right now?
    Mr. Pekoske. I believe the completion date, sir, was 2042. 
That would probably close it up by a year or two. But we're 
ready. We have the ability now, with the contracts we already 
have in place, we already know what technology we want to buy. 
We've tested it. We've put it in operational use. We can spend 
up to $300 million just on CT machines.
    Mr. Gimenez. Three hundred million right now?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK.
    Mr. Pekoske. This would be $300 million not to put machines 
in warehouses but to put machines in airports.
    Mr. Gimenez. Fair enough. Are you--are you working with an 
outside agency, like Clear, to try to offset some of the 
operational needs that you may have at the airports?
    Mr. Pekoske. We work with many, many outside entities. 
Really that's the strength of our system. We work very closely 
with the airports, with carriers, other providers. We work very 
cooperatively with that. I mean, our goal is to make sure that, 
for me, my--my North Star is to ensure that we continue to 
improve security and that everybody in the ecosystem of 
aviation security and surface security is contributing to that 
effort.
    Mr. Gimenez. Move on to REAL ID and your time table for 
REAL ID. What is your time table for REAL ID now?
    Mr. Pekoske. Sir, the Secretary extended the deadline for 
REAL ID until May 2024, so--or 2025. I'm sorry. So it's out a 
couple of years. We're working very hard to make sure that we 
hit that deadline date. We work very closely with the States, 
with the associations that coordinate State activity, with 
departments of motor vehicles in trying to put a system in 
place where we provide a gradual level of notification to 
travelers.
    For example, let's say for argument's sake, 5 or 6 months 
out, if somebody comes to our checkpoint, does not have a REAL 
ID-compliant driver's license, we orally advise them that, hey, 
if they don't have a passport, that driver's license cannot be 
used as their sole identification beginning on the deadline 
date. So to, you know, really try get a more personal focus on 
individuals who have not yet received their REAL ID driver's 
license.
    Mr. Gimenez. I think it's going to be a problem. I know 
that my license doesn't expire until 2026.
    Mr. Pekoske. Uh-huh.
    Mr. Gimenez. I don't believe it's REAL ID.
    The other thing that I--you know, I do have--so folks that 
have, say, Global Entry and they have an ID card for Global 
Entry, I understand that that's not--you can't use that for 
entry. Or can you now?
    Mr. Pekoske. We have on our website, Chairman, a list of 
acceptable forms of identification. Most travelers would likely 
use a passport for a--as a form of identification, which is an 
acceptable form of ID. If a passenger presents themself at the 
checkpoint without an acceptable form of ID, we have an 
alternate resolution process that is time-consuming.
    Our concern is that if we have a lot of people on the 
deadline date in 2025, it will slow down the process for 
everyone. That's why we want to get ahead of it as much as we 
can. We're working very closely with the State DMVs to assess 
the adoption of REAL ID within their new driver's license 
issuances, and trying to keep the messaging out there as 
strongly as we can.
    Mr. Gimenez. Fair enough.
    My time has expired.
    I now recognize the Ranking--Ranking Member Thompson. Do 
you have any questions?
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Pekoske, as you know, I recently introduced the Fund 
the TSA Act, which would provide funding for salary increases 
and expand labor rights for TSA workers, additional computer 
tomography machines, as well as critical airport support for 
law enforcement and canine program. This bill would raise 
passenger security fees by $2 per one-way ticket, end the 
diversion of fees away from TSA to the general treasury, which 
has cost us $1.4 billion annually, and go toward our workers 
and other improvements.
    Although no one likes increase in fees, in order for us to 
really help our workers and maintain this progress that we're 
talking about, would you support advancing the Fund the TSA Act 
to secure the funding needed for fair pay and labor rights for 
TSA workers and other TSA priorities?
    Mr. Pekoske. Mr. Ranking Member, everything in the TS--the 
Fund the TSA Act are things that we desperately need as an 
agency. I think everybody can understand if--if a person's 
receiving a certain level of pay in July and August and 
September, and then, let's say for argument's sake, the budget 
passes at the beginning of the fiscal year and that pay goes 
down, that will have an incredibly negative impact on the work 
force of TSA.
    Additionally, as the administrator, I would be faced with 
the challenge of managing two different pay scales within the 
same agency.
    One thing that I think a lot of people ought to consider as 
well is that we have many, many Transportation Security 
Officers that, fortunately for the agency, advance to different 
positions. They bring their screening skills, their passenger 
interaction skills to other positions within the agency. If you 
don't provide the funding increase across the board, there's 
going to be less and less of a financial benefit for them to do 
that, other than career advancement, which many will still do 
for reasons that are, you know, that are for them a level of 
professional development.
    The other thing that I would highlight is you can imagine 
how hard it is for us in our headquarters positions. If 
somebody is doing the very same job in TSA and they could get 
so much more money working for another Federal agency, it makes 
it hard to retain that talent in TSA, particularly in places 
like Washington, DC, where it's very easy to switch employers.
    So, you know, I look at the immediate impact on people, and 
I also look on the long-term impact on the agency.
    Other thing, sir, that I would add is, you know, I have 
worked--and you and I have talked about this many, many times 
over the last 5.5 years--of trying to do whatever we can to 
improve the workplace environment within TSA. I've tried 
everything, as you know, within my authority and within the 
funds that we could bring together to be able to put resources 
to the issue.
    The No. 1 thing that affects workplace morale in TSA is 
pay. But the No. 2 thing is the relationships and the manner in 
which people are led sometimes within the agency.
    I think that, you know, we've tried everything. Having a 
full collective bargaining agreement is critically important 
for us to take that next step and make sure that we have a 
fulsome way that people can provide input into the things we 
do, they can provide an assessment of proposals that we make in 
a collective bargaining environment, and also have appeal 
rights like every other employee has. So I think those are 
critical.
    Mr. Thompson. Well, thank you much. I think it would be 
heartless on our part to give people a raise and then take it 
back. I just think that that's not----
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Thompson [continuing]. Who we are as a government. I've 
never known it to happen in any other agency. So hopefully 
we'll work something out so our loyal employees won't--won't be 
caught in the lurch.
    As you know, Clear, as the Chairman talked about earlier, 
operates a passenger convenient--convenience program that allow 
their members to cut in the front of the TSA security 
checkpoint. But we also are aware of some problems that have 
come up over the last several months.
    So can you commit to closing any security gaps that you've 
identified in this situation?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. I--I'm fully committed to that. 
Further, in my view, any security gap that TSA identifies, to 
me, that's my job is to make sure that we identify those gaps 
and close them as quickly as we can. Sometimes it requires 
resourcing, and that's when we come back to the Congress. 
Sometimes it might require a little bit of a different 
authorization, but we need to close whatever security gaps we 
have.
    Sir, the strategy that we put out in 2018, the very first 
thing in the strategy in terms of a strategic goal is to 
improve security, because our adversaries get better and better 
all the time. We have to stay well ahead of them.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you.
    I yield back, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins.
    Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Thank you, Mr. Pekoske, for being with us today. It's good 
to see you again.
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Your office is always accessible and works 
very well whenever we reach out. So thank you for your 
leadership.
    So discussing budget, we have obviously difficult decisions 
to make in Congress to protect the people's treasure. We all 
work at the pleasure of the citizenry that we serve, and we 
must be--we must be focused on good stewardship of the people's 
treasure. So we're in the same boat there.
    So on the one hand, I recognize that our Nation carries 
crippling debt. This must be addressed, and very few of us here 
would argue that the size and scope of the United States 
Federal Government was too small in 2022. So we have to make 
difficult budget decisions. We're not going to do it at the 
cost of an American citizen's pay that has been adjusted 
appropriately to be relatively equivalent to their colleagues 
in a similar position in another division of Government.
    So it's a moment when we stand united, I believe, on both 
sides of the aisle to find a way forward there to protect your 
TSA workers' pay increase.
    That being said, I'm going to ask you about a couple of 
areas of your budget and ask you to explain to the American 
people how you deal with that. Your budget request, TSA's 
request included two legislative proposals that include 
terminating the deficit reduction contribution of the aviation 
passenger security fee and eliminating exit lane staffing by 
TSO.
    So the aviation passenger security fee would return $1.56 
billion annually to TSA currently. That revenue from the 
passenger fee, which is about $11.20 for a roundtrip ticket----
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins [continuing]. That money is required by statute 
to go back to the Treasury. We want to return that to TSA.
    So if we got that done, how would that impact your budget 
request regarding protecting your people's pay?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. The number, correct, $1.56 billion 
in fiscal 2024, that would pay for our pay increase. So it's 
directly relevant.
    Mr. Higgins. OK. That was an honest answer. My goodness. 
Thank you for a straight, honest answer.
    The objective would be to move forward with the TSA 
services that are provided to the people, crucial for our--the 
safety of travel and--and prepare for the coming years. I mean, 
you're dealing with two--I think 2.2 million people a day. It's 
a stunning number when you look at it. What you guys are 
accomplishing is amazing.
    You're looking at over 3 million during the travel season 
this summer, I believe you stated that?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. We should be very close to 3 
million. If we don't see it this summer, we'll likely see it--
--
    Mr. Higgins. Over 3 million a day.
    Mr. Pekoske. Uh-huh.
    Mr. Higgins. So as we look over the next decade, which is 
the way things are done with budgets up here, we look at 10 
years of expense, what kind of volume, just from your 
perspective, could we look at per day in 5 or 10 years at TSA?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. Mr. Higgins, thanks very much for 
your comments.
    Generally, a rule of thumb is that passenger volume growth 
in aviation increases by about 4 percent compounded year over 
year.
    Mr. Higgins. Four percent per year?
    Mr. Pekoske. Year over year, yes, sir. That's what----
    Mr. Higgins. That's what you're seeing historically for 
growth?
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Higgins. OK. Well, we can extrapolate those numbers and 
look at significant growth. I mean----
    Mr. Pekoske. Uh-huh.
    Mr. Higgins [continuing]. It's increasing by roughly half 
what you're doing now. So you'd be looking at 4 million people 
a day during your busy season within the next decade.
    Mr. Pekoske. I think that's fair, yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. Yes, sir. Well, I must say that your office 
has been excellent to work with.
    Mr. Pekoske. Thank you.
    Mr. Higgins. We have challenges for budget decisions to 
make. I feel quite confident that we'll be able to maintain and 
grow the capabilities of TSA and protect your workers' pay 
raise, and at the same time address the seemingly never-ending 
growth of the size and scope and expense of the Federal 
Government. It would be more efficient and take care of our 
people.
    Mr. Chairman, my time has expired, and I yield.
    Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, Mr. 
Thanedar.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Chairman.
    Mr. Administrator, I'm really concerned about the potential 
impact to TSA's mission if Congress fails to provide funding 
for increased pay, collective bargaining rights, and necessary 
staffing levels.
    I'm glad there seems to be some agreement on the need to 
maintain increased pay for front-line officers, but we must 
make sure that any continuing resolution includes an anomaly to 
continue that funding.
    I have several questions and I'll ask them all and then 
give you some time to respond. But, Mr. Administrator, what 
would be some of the impacts to TSA if Congress were to fail to 
fund TSO pay increases in 2024?
    Mr. Administrator, I'm also concerned about Republicans' 
efforts to limit pay reforms to TSOs and cut the pay for 
Federal Air Marshals, canine handlers, and other critical 
employees. How important are those employees to TSA's mission, 
and what would be some of the impacts of cutting their pay?
    Let me continue for another minute or so. I'm also 
concerned about cuts proposed by Republicans to defund TSA's 
Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response program. The VIPR 
program is essential to TSA's efforts to support local law 
enforcement and secure mass transit and other modes of 
transportation across the country.
    TSA's surface transportation security efforts are already 
underresourced, even though far more people ride the subway 
each day than fly on a plane. Mr. Administrator, how critical 
are TSA's VIPR teams in securing mass transit?
    Mr. Pekoske. Thank you for your questions, sir. I'll go 
down in the order that you asked the questions.
    Were TSOs not able to continue the pay that will begin on 
the 2nd of July, the impact would be devastating to air travel 
in the country. Wait times in our checkpoints would approach 2 
hours, without question, and we would also significantly lose 
an experience base amongst the Transportation Security 
Officers. I mean, that's something that we saw over the prior 2 
years is that our average experience level was going down by 
several months in major airport checkpoint operations, which is 
really not what you want to see. So the impact on TSOs would be 
incredibly visible and very debilitating for the transportation 
system.
    With respect to the others, depending on the--on the extent 
of the reduction and the number of people that left as a 
result, we might be challenged for Federal Air Marshals to 
provide in-flight security. We have a very risk-based approach 
for air marshal deployment so that we ensure air marshals are 
on flights where we know there's additional risk presented. 
That means that we're going to be accepting a whole lot more 
risk at 35- or 45,000 feet, which I don't think anybody, any of 
us in this room want to do.
    Additionally, our inspectors do amazing work with all of 
the owners and operators of transportation infrastructure in 
the country. I think we have a very good relationship as a 
regulator with the regulated parties, and I think we've been 
very responsible in that regard. Just to acknowledge the owners 
and operators of these systems, they've put a lot of investment 
into making sure that they meet the requirements that we have. 
We would not be able to be as good a partner with them as we 
are today.
    We have put out some very significant cybersecurity 
regulations over the last 2 years. We've been very targeted 
with this in terms of looking at the most critical owners and 
operators in a surface and an aviation sector, and also just 
targeting the critical cyber system. So we've tried to be as 
targeted as we possibly can be. We would lose a lot of that 
talent, and we would not be able to provide the cybersecurity 
baseline support to make sure that our critical transportation 
systems are protected. Importantly, if successfully attacked, 
they wouldn't be able to get back on their feet nearly as 
quickly.
    With respect to VIPRs, the visible intermodal protection 
and response, they have been a really great success story. I 
mean, there's 35 teams that work throughout the country. They 
work in support of Amtrak. They work in support of rail and 
other transit systems. Their name really--really describes well 
what they do. They have a visible presence.
    You know, our goal is to prevent as much as we can possibly 
prevent, and that visible presence on the part of an officer is 
very, very important. We are now providing more VIPR presence 
in airports to augment local law enforcement in airports. As 
you know, we have a concern about insider threat across 
critical infrastructure in the country. Having more presence 
provides the deterrence, and that's very beneficial.
    So all of those functions that you describe are critical to 
our success in making sure that the transportation system, 
which is the underpinning for the United States economy, 
remains safe and secure.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you so much.
    Chairman, I yield back.
    I look forward to meeting you soon and----
    Mr. Pekoske. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Thanedar [continuing]. And sitting down.
    Mr. Pekoske. Appreciate it. Me too.
    Mr. Thanedar. Yes.
    Mr. Pekoske. Thanks.
    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you.
    The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. 
Garcia.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I want to thank the administrator for serving, first, both 
our country as Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard and now as our 
administrator at TSA. I appreciated joining you and your team 
not that long ago for that conversation.
    The TSA, of course, is critical to securing our air travel, 
ports, highways, transit, pipelines. I'm grateful to the 60,000 
Federal TSA workers that work hard every single day and are 
certainly an important line of defense. These workers deserve 
the dignity of their work to be protected and that starts, of 
course, with paying them as the professionals that they are.
    TSA workers traditionally have been paid lower than other 
Federal workers. That's something that you and I discussed and 
that's been brought up today at this hearing. We know that this 
is not acceptable and has a negative impact on quality, on 
retention, on folks being able to move within the organization, 
and for security preparedness which at the very core is the 
most important.
    TSOs have been treated also as second-class Federal workers 
in the past, but I'm grateful that there are steps being taken 
to improve that. The Biden-Harris administration is taking 
steps, as we know, to remedy this, from expanding full title 5 
employee protections, to granting full collective bargaining 
rights, access to the Merit System Protections Board, and 
raising pay, all really important for the work force.
    The Biden-Harris administration and the Democratic Congress 
have also made a much-needed downpayment last year on pay 
equity, and now this Congress needs to keep its promise to 
these TSA works by fully funding pay equity.
    I'm a proud cosponsor of the Ranking Member's TSA act, Fund 
the TSA Act, which, of course, would fund pay increases and 
collective bargaining rights for front-line TSA employees, 
while ending fee diversion of the passenger security fee.
    We all know, of course, that the, unfortunately, the 
Republican Majority has fallen short, in our opinion, in their 
commitment to TSA workers. While keeping the higher pay for 
front-line TSO officers, the fiscal year 2024 Homeland Security 
Appropriations bill leaves behind a vast amount of TSA's work 
force, and they are being underpaid.
    Administrator, am I correct that under the marked-up 
Homeland Security bill, Federal Air Marshals, explosive 
specialists, and canine officers would face pay cuts that would 
place their pay well below similar officers in other 
departments?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir, you're absolutely correct. I'll give 
you one example. If you look at the Federal Air Marshals, law 
enforcement officers, their pay would be cut by 20 percent on 
average. That's a big cut.
    Mr. Garcia. Just so to be clear again, the current Homeland 
Security bill that has been marked up essentially lowers the 
pay for many of our TSA officers. That was a ``yes'' answer. 
That's honestly quite shameful and something that should be 
addressed by this committee.
    Am I correct in saying that lower pay and fewer civil 
service protections typically don't have a positive impact on 
employee morale and retention?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir, very correct, evidenced by the 
Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys for TSA.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you, sir. I'm not sure why the Republican 
House majority wants to actually cut the pay of our TSA 
workers. I'm not sure why they want to actually lower the 
morale and retention of our TSA workers.
    Am I correct also that low employee morale and a lack of 
retention has a negative impact on our Nation's security?
    Mr. Pekoske. It does.
    Mr. Garcia. So, again, I'm not sure why the House 
Republican Majority wants to actually have a negative impact on 
our Nation's security, but they're clearly doing that through 
the bill that's been marked up.
    Currently, the security fee paid by passengers is diverted 
to the general fund. Could you also just explain for us briefly 
how this is harmful to TSA worker pay and its technology and 
security functions?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. About $1.56 billion in fiscal 2024 
money gets diverted to deficit reduction, which means that 
that's $1.54 billion that can't offset the funding needs for 
TSA. It would basically raise our top line.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you. That's a--that's an important 
answer.
    It just--just the last note, just more of a sidenote 
comment. I just want to also just commend the work force. 
Obviously, this is a very, very hard job. See a lot of your 
work force, of course, going through our airports, in and out 
of the airports, and I just want to thank them for clearly the 
adjustments that have been made, especially in the last few 
years, around treating all passengers with dignity, the 
bringing in of new technology, which I imagine has been a 
difficult transition.
    But the experience, at least I believe, of actually getting 
through security in the last few years for all passengers, 
whether it's through TSA PreCheck or--or--or the regular 
process, I think has improved. I think the technology has 
actually been a big part of that.
    I want to just note that the investments in technology and 
investing in TSA is not just a security concern, but it also is 
a customer service improvement for all of the folks that are 
going in and out of our airports. I just want to thank you for 
you and your team's work.
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. Thank you.
    Mr. Garcia. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman yields back.
    The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from New York, Mr. 
LaLota.
    Mr. LaLota. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Admiral, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate all 
your decades of service in the Coast Guard and now with the 
TSA.
    Sir, I want to start off by saying thank you for doing 
that, for keeping our air safe, for keeping our skies safe. We 
appreciate that.
    A month ago or so, we met in my office. We had a very 
productive conversation. We talked about the important work 
that you're doing in the TSA, your vision for the TSA, the 
safety and security of my constituents and all Americans, and 
the balance between moving people through airports 
expeditiously and also keeping them safe. I look forward to 
continuing that conversation today, sir.
    Also in my office last month we spoke very specifically 
about the passenger security fee for which all travelers are 
charged each time they fly. That fee, as we know, is $5.60 for 
a one-way flight originating in the United States. Nominally 
speaking, those funds should go to airport security. However, 
as we discussed, Uncle Sam is taking a large part of those 
funds to pay for Government services having nothing whatsoever 
to do with aviation security.
    This is a classic Government bait-and-switch where the 
Government is telling air travelers to pay that fee to make 
them safer, but it's going elsewhere. A third of those funds, 
$1.2 billion last year, was used to fund Federal expenses 
having nothing to do with aviation security.
    That is why I, along with my colleague, Congressman 
Ruppersberger, recently introduced legislation to ensure those 
funds collected from that fee actually goes toward the stated 
intent, instead of being diverted to unrelated Government 
spending.
    Administrator, have you had an opportunity to review this 
legislation, sir?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir, I have. Thank you.
    Mr. LaLota. Do you have any views or feedback on it, its 
efficacy, its intents, its mechanics? Do you have any opinions 
on it, sir?
    Mr. Pekoske. Sir, I think it's a great idea. I mean, it's 
something that really began to be diverted in 2013. Fiscal 2024 
was the first year it was in effect. Passengers are paying a 9/
11 security fee on their ticket. It ought to go to aviation 
security, and it would help offset our pay challenge and also 
allow us to buy more technology. Because I--I agree a hundred 
percent that we ought to be able to put the best technology in 
the hands of our people. We ask them to do a very difficult 
job. We need to give them the tools to do that.
    Mr. LaLota. Especially when we're telling aviation 
travelers----
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. LaLota [continuing]. Pay more for this service, I think 
it's only fair the Government is candid with them and actually 
use the funds they're collecting for that purpose. So I look 
forward to staying in touch with you on that legislation, sir.
    Switching gears. In your testimony, sir, you stated that 
only 38 percent of computed tomography procurements have been 
made for a full operational capable need for 2,200 or so CT 
machines. You've also estimated that based on projected 
funding, as it stands, it will take you until the year 2042 to 
fully deploy this CT technology. Is that correct?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir, that's correct.
    Mr. LaLota. Can you give me little insights? I mean, this 
is concerning, I think, to the committee. I think that we can 
do--do better. Do you have any insights on that, sir?
    Mr. Pekoske. One I would share with you that I think is 
particularly relevant, sir, is that we're in the position where 
we know exactly what we want to buy. We've bought a good 
portion of them already, and we have contracts in place to be 
able to do that. So we could spend easily triple what we're 
currently appropriated and not put new technology in 
warehouses. We could install in airports.
    This technology, in particular the CT technology, closes a 
known security gap for us that we need to close as quickly as 
we can.
    Mr. LaLota. Thanks. I look forward to working with you on 
both these issues, sir. Appreciate your time today.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Mr. Pekoske. Thank you.
    Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman yields back.
    I'm going to go through a second round of questioning.
    Mr. Pekoske, what is the cost, additional cost, of giving 
the pay raises to everybody in TSA?
    Mr. Pekoske. The additional cost would be the cost for 
everybody beyond the TSOs, and I'd have to look at the exact 
budget numbers. The President's request was for an additional 
$1.1 billion, which is actually less than the $1.6 billion if 
we ended the fee diversion. So that's in addition to what----
    Mr. Gimenez. That's not the question. So I'm asking you a 
very direct question.
    Mr. Pekoske. Uh-huh.
    Mr. Gimenez. What is the cost of giving everybody the pay 
raise?
    Mr. Pekoske. Sure. If you provide the pay raise to 
everyone, the annualized cost is about $1.5 billion.
    Mr. Gimenez. So--but the President only--we've only cut 
$128 million from the President's request.
    How are we going to fund that?
    Mr. Pekoske. Well, sir, I think where you start is the fee 
diversion.
    Mr. Gimenez. No, no, hold on a second. The President 
requested only $128 million more than what we appropriated. How 
are you going to fund over a billion dollars in pay increases 
with only $128 million?
    Mr. Pekoske. Sir, the President submitted a legislative 
proposal to end that fee diversion, and that's the pay-for.
    Mr. Gimenez. Fair enough. That's a good answer. OK.
    The fee diversion, how much is that?
    Mr. Pekoske. $1.56 billion.
    Mr. Gimenez. One-point-five-six. The whole fee diversion is 
going to pay for pay increases?
    Mr. Pekoske. It will pay for pay increases and technology 
investment, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. Is that all you need?
    Mr. Pekoske. Oh, I could--we could spend a lot more money 
than what's there. I mean, I think pretty much every agency 
would say that, is that we're top-line constrained, which means 
that we have far more very high-priority needs than we have 
funds to be able to support it.
    Part of the issue here, sir, if I could, is, you know, 
these investments are long-term investments.
    Mr. Gimenez. I understand.
    Mr. Pekoske. Investments in people are long-term 
investments. Investments in technology are long-term 
investments. So you can't wish--let's say in a year we find a 
significant security concern, a threat. We shouldn't be in a 
position of wishing we had the technology that we know we need 
in place.
    Mr. Gimenez. It's about $11 round trip for an individual.
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez. What is the actual cost per passenger of 
providing the services that TSA needs to provide in order to 
keep Americans and the traveling public safe?
    Mr. Pekoske. I don't have that number off the top of my 
head, sir, but we can get that for you for the record.
    Mr. Gimenez. Would you have a guesstimate?
    Mr. Pekoske. Well, you know, our budget is--let's say, 
round up the budget $11 billion, and let's say on an annual 
basis you have a billion passengers, right.
    Mr. Gimenez. Well, the more passengers you have, the more 
income you have too. I'm asking----
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez [continuing]. So it's a per-passenger cost.
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez. So as your passenger loads goes up, so does 
your revenue.
    Mr. Pekoske. It does.
    Mr. Gimenez. Right?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. So what is your per-passenger cost to 
provide the services, to provide all your--your employees a--a 
decent rate of pay and then all the technology that you need in 
order to keep the traveling public safe, in your estimation?
    Mr. Pekoske. I would have to get--you know, I'd have to 
figure that number out and get that number to you for the 
record, and we'll show you how we calculated it.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. Thank you.
    I yield back.
    Anybody--oh, now I have--I recognize the gentlewoman from 
Florida, Ms. Lee.
    Ms. Lee. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here, sir.
    Administrator Pekoske, I'd like to bring up TSA's work 
specifically on cybersecurity. On March 7 of this year, TSA 
issued a cyber-related joint emergency security program 
amendment, EA 2301, for certain TSA-regulated airports and 
aircraft operators to implement cybersecurity measures.
    Under this EA, airports and aircraft operators, including 
Tampa International Airport, which serves many of my 
constituents, are required to transmit sensitive information to 
TSA over email.
    I am concerned that this is potentially putting that 
information, putting that very sensitive information at risk in 
the event of a cyber attack against TSA. All of this 
information from airports around the country could be accessed 
by a bad actor.
    If--so my question will begin here. If it is standard 
practice of TSA, which I understand it is, to conduct extensive 
on-site inspections of critical cyber-related systems, why is 
TSA now implementing this process that would require 
transmission via email of this type of sensitive information 
for storage about critical airport and airline systems at your 
site?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, ma'am. Great question. We benefited 
significantly from the input from our airport and airline 
partners on this, and we have changed that policy where they 
can keep that information locally. We'll inspect it locally.
    Ms. Lee. That is great to hear. In fact, you just led into 
one of my other questions. I would love to hear more about 
that. What kind of engagement did you have with the 
stakeholders and the airports in making changes or revisions to 
that policy?
    Mr. Pekoske. I would say--and, you know, the airports and 
the carriers would be a good--a good group of people to ask as 
well. I think we have a really very productive and positive 
relationship with the owners and operators of critical 
infrastructure. Airports and airlines are very much included in 
that category, and we have regular dialog back and forth all 
the time.
    We understand the concern. We looked at it carefully. We 
think we could provide some mitigations for it, but I didn't 
want that issue to be the issue that prevented us from making 
progress on improving cyber protections and improving cyber 
resiliency. So fair point. Let's just go the site and look at 
the data that they have there.
    It makes sense, from my perspective. Really I--I value the 
fact that airports and airlines feel that they can--they can 
come back and say to us, no, hey, we disagree with that.
    Importantly, we will listen to what they say, consider 
carefully what they say. Generally, we provide an answer that I 
think at the end of the day both of us, walking away, would say 
that makes sense and let's just move forward.
    Ms. Lee. So just to be sure that I'm clear. So then at this 
point that is no longer the requirement, that they take that 
information and email it to TSA for storage there?
    Mr. Pekoske. That's correct.
    Ms. Lee. All right. Very good.
    Tell me generally, what policies and practices does TSA 
have in place for itself to protect in the event of a cyber 
attack or incident?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, ma'am. You know, one of the President's 
Executive Orders is to make sure that the Federal Government 
leads in this regard, because many of us are placing 
requirements on private-sector entities and other levels of 
Government entities. So we wanted to make sure that we were 
setting the right example in that regard.
    So we are moving aggressively to put a zero trust framework 
in place around all of our cyber systems. We've increased our 
cybersecurity training. We've brought more cybersecurity 
experts on board.
    I think that, at least in my experience, working with 
pipelines and rail systems, airports and airlines, we have all 
collectively learned a lot in this process. So I--you know, I 
think the transportation sector is so much better off now 2 
years later than we were when we first started putting these 
requirements in place.
    I'll give you one classic example. Back in May 2021, we 
didn't know how many cyber incidents were occurring in the 
pipeline sector or in the rail sector or in the aviation 
sector. Now we have a reporting requirement. So we know. So if 
somebody gets attacked, they can call back to CISA, which is an 
important point, because, you know, that's the central 
repository for that reporting, which has worked very well, and 
understand that, hey, I might not be alone here. You know, 
there are others that are experiencing the same things and help 
them contextualize what's going on.
    Ms. Lee. If you would, elaborate on that last point. I'd 
love to hear more about the way in which you're working with 
CISA and some of the successes and utility that you've gotten 
out of the relationship with CISA.
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes. CISA is one of our key--and we have two 
key partners overall. One is with CISA. The other is with the 
Department of Transportation, because DOT has the safety side 
of the transportation sector. Oftentimes, something that you 
might do for cybersecurity from a security perspective might 
have a safety impact that you're not mindful of or vice-versa.
    So we work very closely with DOT, the modes; FAA for 
aviation--the pipeline has this material safety agency for 
pipelines--and also with the FBI from a threat perspective. So 
it's a very, very good relationship.
    One of the things that we want to be able to provide to our 
industry partners is a more unified perspective on the part of 
the Government agencies that are involved.
    Mr. Gimenez. The gentlelady's time has expired.
    I recognize the gentleman from Louisiana.
    Mr. Higgins. Administrator Pekoske, referencing what we 
discussed a moment ago, the aviation passenger security fee. 
Let's visit that again.
    It seems to me that that would be a game-changer for TSA to 
have that money returned, correct?
    Mr. Pekoske. It would. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. There's a lot that we could get done within 
the parameters of a conservative budget projection if you had 
that money returned to TSA?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. I concur. It occurred to me, based upon your 
projections for increased traffic per day, moving from 2.2 
million a day--which is, again, hard to believe that you guys 
handle that amount of traffic, but it's true. You're looking at 
over 3 million a day in the peak of the summer travels, you're 
saying.
    So if you--if TSA received a aviation passenger security 
fee, which currently for a round-trip ticket is $11.20--and 
granted, everyone is not traveling round trip that would come 
through--but we could project a large increase in your daily 
and monthly income to fund TSA operations if you receive that 
fee. Because as traffic goes up--a TSA security checkpoint has 
relatively static expense whether it's busy or not, correct?
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Higgins. So if you increase the number of passengers, 
you have the same expense for operating the TSA checkpoint, 
give or take maintenance expenses, et cetera. But with the 
static expense for operating a TSA checkpoint, if you're able 
to receive the aviation passenger security fee back into your 
funding, especially considering increased traffic when you 
won't have increased expense to operate, but you'll have 
increased funding because of the increased traffic. Am I seeing 
this correctly?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir, you're seeing it correct. The only 
thing I'd add is that your maintenance cost will go up with 
more traffic sometimes.
    Mr. Higgins. A little bit.
    Mr. Pekoske. But not--you know, your core concept, I 100 
percent agree with.
    Mr. Higgins. All right. Well, again, sir, thank you for 
appearing before the committee today.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield.
    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you.
    I'm going to just--one more--one more round for me, OK?
    All right. How many passengers a year do you process? 
Domestic passengers?
    Mr. Pekoske. I would have to get back to you with the 
domestic number. I know the overall number is close to a 
billion per year. We're at 550 million already this year. So we 
will easily exceed a billion by the end of this calendar year.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. A billion--OK. Let's say it's a billion. 
So a billion at 560-? A billion at 560-, because a billion 
passengers, that's wherever. It's 560-. That's just not----
    Mr. Pekoske. Five-hundred-sixty--. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez. So you're getting, you know, $5,600,000,000 
from your passenger fee.
    What does it take to fund your agency?
    Mr. Pekoske. About $11 billion, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. Eleven billion. So it's half of what it 
actually takes to fund your agency.
    Mr. Pekoske. Uh-huh. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. One more thing. Of the $1.6 billion that's 
actually being diverted, you said that you could get--you could 
pay for the pay raises and also technology. How much is it for 
pay raises?
    Mr. Pekoske. The additional funds we need for the pay raise 
is 1.1, because we already have money from fiscal year 2023 
appropriated. So the increase is 1.1.
    Mr. Gimenez. Well, then I got--then have another question, 
OK? In my figures, it says it's $856 million to pay for the pay 
increases for the rank-and-file. You're saying it's more money 
to pay for the non-rank-and-file? It's more expensive to pay 
for those folks than it is for just the bulk of the rank-and-
file?
    Mr. Pekoske. No, sir. What I'm saying is that the--we were 
appropriated about 300-some-odd million--$380 million last year 
for pay. That is in our base. So that carries forward into 
2024. When you go into 2024, you just ask for the increase that 
you need to be able to sustain full-year funding for that pay. 
That increase is another $1.1 billion. So that gets you to the 
$1.4 that I talked about.
    Mr. Gimenez. Well, you had it for a quarter.
    Mr. Pekoske. Right.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. So you need $856- to fill out the other 
three quarters. Or a quarter--no. It'd be about $300 million. 
Three hundred million per quarter. Is that what you got?
    Mr. Pekoske. Three-hundred-eighty--. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. So $380-. So it costs just as much to pay 
for the upper echelon folks in TSA as it does for the rank-and-
file?
    Mr. Pekoske. No, sir. That $380- includes everybody.
    Mr. Gimenez. No. You said it would--it would take $1.1 
billion to pay for the pay increases for the folks that aren't 
getting the pay increases? Is that what you said?
    Mr. Pekoske. No, sir. The 1.1 is to annualize--to take the 
one-quarter funding and turn it into four quarters' worth of 
funding in fiscal 2024.
    Mr. Gimenez. For everybody?
    Mr. Pekoske. For everybody. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. For the--we gave you $856 million additional 
for the rank-and-file this year. All right? So if you say that 
the base for that is already in, and then you say, OK, it's 
$1.1 billion for the rank-and-file, but you're telling me it's 
$1.1 billion for the non-rank-and-file. What percentage of your 
work force is the non-rank-and-file versus the rank-and-file?
    Mr. Pekoske. Sir, the Transportation Security Officers--the 
uniformed work force is about 80 percent of our work force.
    Mr. Gimenez. The TSA--the people that are getting a raise?
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gimenez. So how could 20 percent of the work force end 
up paying just as--costing just as much as the 80 percent of 
the work force?
    Mr. Pekoske. Right. Because that money that provides for 
the TSOs needs to be carried over for four quarters' worth of 
funding into 2024. So you're paying for that as well.
    Mr. Gimenez. No. You're not getting the question.
    You're telling me that for 80 percent of the work force you 
need $1.1 billion. But you're also telling me that for 20 
percent of the work force you need $1.1 billion. That doesn't 
equate to me.
    Mr. Pekoske. Oh, I'm sorry. No. For the entire work force, 
to annualize what we received in 2023, we need an additional 
$1.1 billion.
    Mr. Gimenez. But you're already getting $856 million more 
in this next fiscal year to pay for your 80 percent.
    Mr. Pekoske. Uh-huh.
    Mr. Gimenez. So how much is--how much more do you need for 
the 20 percent that you say are getting a pay cut? You're 
telling us it's $1.1 billion. To me, it doesn't--doesn't 
equate, OK? So----
    Mr. Pekoske. We'll figure out the----
    Mr. Gimenez. Well, no, I got to figure it out because, you 
know what, it doesn't equate to me. So if you got 20 percent of 
your work force is costing as much as 80 percent of your work 
force, there's something wrong.
    Mr. Pekoske. Yes. OK. So we have $380-. We're asking for 
1.1----
    Mr. Gimenez. You have $380- when we've given you $856 
million more to fund for the 80 percent. That's in this budget, 
OK? That's in our appropriation.
    We've asked the question a number of times. If you got the 
passenger fee back, $1.6 billion, how much of it--you know, how 
much of it do you need to fund the other 20 percent? You give 
me a number like $800 million or a billion dollars, OK? It 
doesn't make sense to me how 20 percent of the work force can 
cost as much as $80 percent of the work force. If that's the 
case, that means your 20 percent is making a heck of a lot of 
money.
    So where is it? Where are we?
    Mr. Pekoske. So the non-TSO work force does make more money 
than the TSO work force, as they're higher-banded. So if you 
looked at the rest of the Federal Government, they would be--
you know, let's say general schedule, 12, 13, 14 steps, where 
the TSO work force would be 5, 7, 9, maybe 11. OK.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK. So you know what? Now I'm going to need 
what--who's making what.
    Mr. Pekoske. Sure.
    Mr. Gimenez. OK? Because that doesn't make sense to me, OK? 
The 20 percent, no matter how much--they're making a heck of a 
lot more than everybody else. So I've got to see what that is, 
OK?
    Mr. Pekoske. Sure.
    Mr. Gimenez. So I need to see--those folks that you're 
saying that are going to get a pay cut, what are they making? 
How much total are they making? What percentage of your work 
force it is? Then the ones that are getting the pay raise, 
which is 80 percent--right--how much are they making? All 
right?
    So--you know, look, I want to be fair with everybody, but 
again, you know, I want to make sure that I got this whole 
thing straight.
    Mr. Pekoske. I understand. If I could just add one comment 
to that, sir, is that we're asking for the people to be paid at 
the same level that their other Federal counterparts are being 
paid. We're not asking for money that other people working in 
the Federal Government don't receive for the same grade level.
    Mr. Gimenez. I understand that. But, you know, I ask 
questions a certain way because I expect them to come out a 
certain way. I don't expect your answer to come out a certain 
way, but I expect--OK. When I see something like that, that 20 
percent, according to you--maybe you're wrong, I don't know--20 
percent is costing as much as 80 percent, there's something 
wrong there, OK? So, you know, I got to check that out.
    Mr. Pekoske. OK.
    Mr. Gimenez. My time is over, but I'm the Chair, so I can 
do whatever.
    Mr. Higgins, do you have any follow-up on this?
    Mr. Higgins. Just an observation, perhaps, Mr. Chairman, 
from your line of questioning here.
    In the interest of just clarity, I believe that what TSA 
was dealing with is that it's not that the 20 percent of the 
work force was overpaid; it's that the 80 percent of the work 
force was underpaid. We're adjusting that now. It does bring 
parity to those numbers.
    But, again, to use your numbers, in the interest of 
simplicity, 80 percent of the work force was falling in one-
third--in the lower one-third of comparable pay bands across 
the Federal Government in similar jobs. The 20 percent of the 
work force was falling in the upper one-third of the pay bands 
for similar jobs across the Federal Government. So that puts 
them in the upper one-third. It doesn't put them at the top.
    So it's not that they were--it's not that 20 percent of the 
work force was overpaid or is overpaid, it's that the 80 
percent was underpaid. We made those adjustments.
    Is that a fair summary, sir?
    Mr. Pekoske. That's fair. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Higgins. A productive meeting and hearing, Mr. 
Chairman. I yield.
    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you very much. It has been productive. I 
do want to see those figures.
    Look, from my perspective, maybe the traveling public needs 
to have excellent services, which you provide, and then, you 
know, what they pay for--they should be getting the services 
that they're paying for. So I agree with my colleague.
    I thank the witness for your valuable testimony and the 
Members for their questions. The Members in the subcommittee 
may have some additional questions for the witnesses and we 
would ask the witness to respond to these in writing.
    Pursuant to committee rule VII(D), the hearing record will 
be open for 10 days.
    Without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank 
you.
    [Whereupon, at 3:34 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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